Symphonic Journeys
by Delia Blythe
Summary: 16 years ago, Bella Swan, a famous cellist, and Edward Cullen, an aspiring rockstar, met and had a one night stand. Now, meet Renesmee, and follow her musical journey to find her birth parents. Plot based on August Rush. AU, AH, canon couples.
1. Chapter 1

"Bells? Bells? Bella?" The words called out to me. Still, no matter how much they called, nothing could break me from the trance I was in. 7 minutes from now, I would be on a stage, as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra's lead cellist. I was as pale as a ghost, although I basically am that pale anyway. If it weren't for my mahogany curls and muddy brown chocolate eyes, I'd be confused for an albino. And that still doesn't stop some people.

"Isabella. Bella! ISABELLA MARIE SWAN!" my father yelled once more, shaking me from my reverie. My father is Charlie. Charlie Swan. When I was 17, I moved in with him in Forks, Washington, so my mom could be with her husband, Phil. My mom, Renee, married Charlie straight out of high school when they were 18. A year later, they had me, and not too much later, she left him, taking me with her to California. We lived there for a few years, until we finally settled in Phoenix, Arizona. Her current husband, Phil, is a minor league baseball player, and he travels a lot. Even though Renee wanted to join him, she stayed behind with me. I know it pained her, so I decided to move in with Charlie those 3 years ago.

All my life, I'd been taking music lessons, trying almost every instrument, before settling on the cello when I was 9. It was always a mere hobby of mine, but when I moved to Forks, Charlie started making me perform. That's how I ended up in Julliard.

It's not that I don't enjoy playing the cello, I love it more than anything, but I don't like being exploiting my love. It's not what I wanted to do with my life. I hate performing. It's just not me. The only one really benefitting from my playing is Charlie, because of my big, fat paychecks he's grown accustomed to.

The only rock I've really had through the whole Charlie debacle is my best friend, Alice Brandon. I met her on my first day at Forks High, and we've been inseparable since. She actually is a gifted violinist, so we both went to Juilliard, and she also got a spot in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra as an accompanist.

Charlie's shrill voice, which he only uses at times like these, shook me out of my thoughts once more. "Bella? Hello? Earth to Bella!" he snapped, waving his hand in front of my face.

"Huh?" I asked, confused for a minute. I was too nervous to even pay attention. This was one of the biggest performances of my career.

"5 minutes, Bells." My dad explained. "Oh." I muttered in return, unsure if he heard me. My father rolled his eyes and stomped away.

I quickly stood up and checked my appearance once more in the gold, full-length mirror. _Hair, check. Make-up, check. Dress, check. Shoes, check. All good._

"Bella?" my father's head peered in from the door. "Jeez, Bells. You're shaking. Relax." I didn't even notice I was. I took a deep breath and forced a smile at him. "Ok, not that relaxed. Let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

"No way, man! Not possible." Emmett boomed as we were setting up backstage. "How could you even think that?!?" Jasper questioned increduously.

I rolled my eyes at my brother and my friend's new argument, it was probably about the last poker game, or their latest bet.

"So you're telling me you think you have a better chance a picking up a girl than dear Eddie-boy here, Jazzy?" Emmett chuckled, as he came up to me and slapped me on the back. "Actually, Jazz, you're probably right!" And Emmett laughed once more.

Oh, that was the argument. "Don't call me that, Emmie." I glared at Emmett, my brother, at the exact time Jasper said, "Don't call me Jazzy, Em-baby." The three of us immediately burst into laughter, remembering Rosalie's new pet names for Emmett.

Tonight was our regular gig at the Pandora in New York. Our band, the Cullen Coven, consisted of me, as the lead vocalist and guitarist, Emmett, my brother, our leader and drummer, Jasper, our best friend and our bassist, and Rosalie, Jasper's twin sister, Emmett's girlfriend, and our rhythm guitarist, although she occasionally played keyboard when necessary.

Emmett, my brother, is a huge, muscular guy, and he looks intimidating to strangers, but he's really a big teddy bear. He's the king of all crude humor, usually directed at yours truly. Jasper is tall and muscular as well, but not nearly as much as Emmett. He has blond curly hair, and blue eyes. Rosalie is also tall, with blonde hair cascading down her back, with icy blue eyes. She's usually very tenacious, and the only person that's been able to break through her ice walls is Emmett. In exchange, she keeps Emmett in check, because without her, Jasper and I would have gone insane by now.

My parents are Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Carlisle is a world renowned surgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Esme is a well-known interior designer. They helped us start our band and have been supporting us ever since. They have also known the Hales, Jasper and Rosalie's family for decades, so our two families act like one, huge close-knit family. Now, here we are, me, 21, Jasper and Rosalie 22, and Emmett 23, and we're playing regularly at the most famous club in New York City!

"Guys, cut it out. It's time to go on." Rosalie called to us from behind her keyboard. We all went to join her as she walked backstage, and the owner came onstage and the curtains opened.

"Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the one and only, the legendary Cullen Coven!" _Showtime._


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately, I don't own Twilight or any of the characters from Twilight. I also do not own August Rush.

**A/N: **Hello, my readers. Those have you that have read my story, thank you, I really appreciate it. After reading hundreds of incredible stories on here, I felt the least I could do was contribute a story of my own. I look up to the many writers of Fan Fiction, they are exceptional writers, and hopefully, one day, I will be able to live up to even 20% of the writers they are. Unfortunately, I haven't been receiving the kind of feedback I wanted. My story has received 44 hits from when I first posted it up to now, but I have only received 1 review. I ask you, my readers, to just leave me even one review, so I can improve my writing. It would mean the world to me. Thank you.

Also, I want to clear up the ages of the characters, in case it was confusing.

Bella – 20

Edward – 21

Alice – 20

Jasper – 22

Emmett – 23

Rosalie – 22

Oh, and I put up a poll, which is pretty significant to the story. I will take it down on September 13 (Bella's Birthday – to keep it easier to remember), so please take a gander at it and vote.

Lastly, I will try to update as often as I can, but with school starting in 2 weeks, I will be a little more occupied, making preparations. I'll try to update once a week, but I can't promise anything. I hate those authors that start a story, but then either go on hiatus or quit the story. I know, I know, they have their own reasons, and I respect that completely, but that doesn't mean it's not irritating, no? So, I promise to try my hardest to update, and maybe you could review in the meantime. Deal?

Ok, so here is my 3rd chapter, it is longer than the last two chapters, because they were a sort of preface into the story, from each main character's point of view.

Questions? Comments? Complaints? I don't have a 1-800 number, but I do take reviews :D

* * *

_Bella Swan_

I trembled furiously as I walked out onto the stage, and nearly tripped once I got a glance of the thousands of people waiting to hear the orchestra. Luckily, I caught myself at the last minute, and continued to walk. It would have sucked if I wrecked another cello by falling on it.

Trying my hardest not to faint, I dragged my cello to my chair, located front and center. I glanced at Alice, who smiled at me reassuringly from across the rows of the orchestra. With a grin on my face, directed at her, I cleared my throat and signaled to the conductor that I was ready to begin.

The conductor then straightened up, and stepped onto the podium. He grasped his baton, and turned to face the audience. He bowed, and then turned back to us. Once he raised his hand, silence consumed the enormous arena.

He started to move his hands in a ¾ song pattern and I tightly gripped my bow, ready to play. Once I took a deep breath, the strings and my bow collided.

I began to play the music, and suddenly, it seemed all my nervousness started to slowly and gradually melt away. I became lost in the rich tones of the cello, and it was almost like there was this underlying force, helping me play, and giving my guidance.

* * *

_Edward Cullen_

Emmett, Jasper, and I began to run around the stage and yell at the audience, "warming up the crowd", as Emmett had put it. I sighed and we began to direct our excitement into our music. Rosalie cleared her throat and we all turned to see her disapproving expression as she motioned to the set-up, especially glaring at Emmett. He immediately ran to his drums. That boy is so whipped. Sometimes, Jasper and I wonder if Rosalie is the one running the band, and not Emmett.

Jasper and I picked up our guitars, and Emmett began the count-off. I grabbed my guitar pick and began my intro, playing the chords that flowed so naturally through me, and sang into the microphone. The whole time I played, singing song after song, I couldn't help but feel this force with me tonight, a pull, almost magnetic, that guided me to finish so I could be elsewhere.

* * *

_Bella Swan_

I played the concert tonight fairly well. Whatever helped me earlier tonight was simply a gift. My nervousness completely dissolved, and I barely missed a note, playing "so exceptionally" as the conductor had put it, that they asked me to return for future performances. Charlie, of course was ecstatic, but I only agreed if they did the same for Alice. That earned me a look from Charlie, but of course he didn't let anyone else catch it.

Charlie may love Alice like a daughter as well, but he wouldn't let anything get in the way of his ambitions, not even me. He would do anything and manipulate everything to get what he wanted.

I went back to my miniscule dressing room to freshen up, and 10 minutes later, Alice all but barged into the room with a garment bag in one hand and her glittery make-up kit in the other. Oh god, the glittery make-up kit can only mean _one _thing. She was dragging me to a party tonight. Kill me now.

"Oh, BELLLLLAAAAAA!!!!!!" she sang as she gracefully sauntered into my room. "GUESS WHAAAATTT??? WE are going to a PARTY tonight!!!" she squealed. I groaned in response, and immediately tried to think of excuses in my head not to go. Nothing. _Thanks, brain. You choose today to be unhelpful._

Before I even tried to sit up, she all but tied me to the chair and started undoing my hair. "Alice, do I _really _have to go?" I begged.

"Of course, Bella! Don't even think about trying to get out of this one. It's about time we each found ourselves a boyfriend, no? And plus, I already asked Jessica and Angela if they wanted to come! Jessica's going to bring Mike, and Angela's going to bring Ben. See, we can't not go. It would be rude! You wouldn't want to disappoint Jessica, Mike, Angela, Ben, and _me _like that, would you Bella?" she innocently asked me, playing the guilt card.

"No, I guess not." I grumbled in response. I wouldn't mind so much if Angela and Jessica came. Even though Alice is my number one best friend, I became good friends with Angela when I first joined the Philharmonic. She plays the flute, and she's the 3rd chair. Jessica was also nice, but she sometimes had a bit of a gossip problem. She also plays in the orchestra, as a violist, and she's 5th chair. Ben, Angela's longtime boyfriend, was also nice, but quiet. He worked as a chef at one of the fancy hotels in Manhattan. Mike, Jessica's on and off boyfriend, on the other hand, was a very… _persistent_ boy. Whenever he and Jessica were "off", Mike would try and put the moves on me, even though I always refused. Actually, even when he and Jessica were "on", it still wouldn't stop him. It was no secret to anyone who spent 15 minutes with us that Mike would dump Jessica for me, but I could never do that to Jessica, and plus, Mike Newton repulses me. Besides that, he's pushy, obnoxious, arrogant, and, as I said, persistent. Jessica used to dislike me for that fact, but once she realized I was not interested _at all _in Mike, we became friends. Besides that, he's pushy, obnoxious, arrogant, and, as I said, persistent.

Meanwhile, Alice was tugging a pulling at my hair with various brushes and curling irons. "Alice, come on, leave my poor head alone!" I whined. "Bella! Hold still, I'm almost done." She muttered. Thankfully, after 10 minutes, she was done torturing my poor head, but then she pulled out her make-up kit, and I knew the torture had really begun. She started rubbing that foundation gunk all over my face, and nearly poked my eye out with eyeliner! "Alice!!!" I whined once more. "And… I'm… done!" she exclaimed after submerging me to 30 minutes of this hell.

I figured, I might as well check the damage, and why all this was necessary. I leaned over the table to get the mirror, but Alice ran over and slapped my hand before I got a chance. "Wait, Bella! You have to put your outfit on first, I don't want you to see until you're 100% done!" Alice commanded. "Stupid pixie…" I muttered under my breath, hoping she couldn't hear me. "Hey! I heard that! And you're really lucky that I did your hair already, because I would smack the back of your head right now! But if I did then I'd have to redo your hair, and then we'd be late…" she rambled.

"Oh Bella, your dress is in that bag right there." She pointed to the pink garment bag. I unzipped it to find a pretty, but short black dress. It had spaghetti straps, and the neckline there was some intricate beading that made the dress look more sophisticated, and there were a couple ruffles at the bottom. It was beautiful, but I was a little unsure about the length.

"Hey Alice, I'm gonna go change. Give me a minute." I called to her as I stepped out the door and to the bathroom. "No prob, Bells, I'm gonna get ready while I wait!" I heard her yell back.

By the time I was done getting dressed, I walked in to find Alice already completely made-up and dressed. No fair! How does she do that in 5 minutes, when she tortures me for hours? "Alice?!? How come you're already done?!? It took you an hour and a half to get me ready, but it took you 5 minutes!" I yelled in disbelief, while she just smirked smugly. "Unlike _you_, I don't squirm while I'm getting ready." I rolled my eyes at her and sat down.

"Oh, here are your shoes Bella." She handed me a pair of stilettos that had 5 inch heels. "No way, Alice! I'm NOT wearing those shoes!" I protested. "Come on, Bella! They match perfectly with your dress! You'll look super sexy if you wear those." She started pouting. Ugh, I hate when she uses her "Alice pout". It's how she's managed to get everything she wants. _Well, not tonight._

"Alice, I am not wearing those! No way in hell! I don't care how great I'll look in them; I'd rather stay alive and injury-free, instead of a death by stilettos."

"Death by _stilettos_? Don't you mean, death by incurable klutziness?" she smirked.

"Exactly! Don't you think it would be a lot safer for everyone if I didn't wear these heels?" Ok, it's official, I won this fight.

"But Bellllaaaaa!" she whined. After trying her pout once more while I smiled smugly at her, she sighed and put the shoes back in the bag.

"One day Swan, you _will _wear these shoes." She threatened. She then reached into her other bag and pulled out a pair of gladiator sandals. "Happy?" she grumbled.

"Yes, I love you Alice!" I tried to cheer her up. "Yeah, yeah. Love you too." She muttered as she got up to look in the mirror.

"What do you think of my dress? Is it a little much?" she pondered. I turned my head and examined her dress, and gasped. I never really noticed it before. She looked absolutely gorgeous in her short, sequined dress. It was loose the top, all the way down to the bottom, where there was a tight elastic band surrounding her. She looked amazing. "Alice! You… look…" I couldn't even find the words. She mistook my silence the wrong way though. "Aww, dang, I knew it! What about this dress?" And she proceeded to grab another dress, this time with a tight fitting black tube top attached to a ruffled forest green skirt. It had nothing on the sequined dress.

"No, Alice, you look… incredible! Gorgeous! Spectacular! I'm at a loss of words." I exclaimed as I sulked in my chair. She proceeded to drag me to the mirror so she could compare herself to me. "No way, I've got nothing on you tonight, Bella." She smiled at me. Yeah, right, how could Alice Brandon not look better than me? She was unnaturally beautiful, while I was a boring plain Jane. I rolled my eyes at her, and we grabbed our clutches and coats. She had a black clutch with a black coat, and I had an aquamarine clutch with a bow on it and a gray cardigan. "Let's go, Bells, Jess and Ang are waiting."

* * *

_Edward Cullen_

"Dude!!! That was awesome! Amazing! Spectacular!" Emmett boomed. He was practically shaking from all the adrenaline and excitement from our performance tonight. We brought the house down. Literally. Emmett was so pumped into our 3rd song that he threw a drumstick into the crowd and it hit a light, which fell on the stage.

"Ok, so, after subtracting the damages from Emmett's little _incident_, we brought in $1,200! All right guys! Since we were originally going to bring in $1,500, we'll subtract the damages from Emmett's cut, and distribute the rest equally." Jasper informed us. Emmett sulked.

"Guys! Please! Come on! It was an accident! Don't tell me that you've never been so happy that you lose control! Come on, that was our greatest gig ever! Playing tonight, it was the best feeling I've ever had in my life. Nothing can compare to tonight! Give me a break here! I need the money!" Emmett tried to bargain, instead, earning a glare from Rosalie. "_Nothing_ can compare, Emmett?" she asked him skeptically. "No, Rosie! Please! It wasn't my fault guys!" he cried. "Oh, so _I_ don't compare?" Rosalie questioned him angrily before stalking off away from him. Jasper and I rolled our eyes, while Emmett chased after Rosalie. "Come on, Rosie! I didn't mean it like that! Fine, fine, I'll pay for the damages! Come on!" his voice trailed away.

Jasper and I watched amusingly, until Emmett finally caught up to Rose, and they had a heated discussion. Suddenly, the expression on her face changed from anger, to… lust? And the two held hands, all but running to the nearest bathroom or broom closet. Could they be any more discreet?

Jasper sighed as Emmett and Rosalie returned a couple minutes later. "Ok, Emmett, you get $75, and Rosalie, Edward, and I each get $375." He said while giving us each our cut. Jasper raised his eyebrow as Emmett took his cut with a huge grin on his face. "PMS, much? Emmett, you were just whining about how little you get, and now you're almost as happy as you were when you broke the stage light." Jasper was confused.

"Oh, Rosie said she'd… _recompensate_… for my losses tonight." He said with a smug grin on his face. Jasper was immediately horrified, and yelled, "Dude! That's my sister! It's bad enough that you're dating her, but I _don't _want to know about what you do when we're _not_ together!" While Rosalie smacked Emmett upside the head.

Emmett yelled a "Hey!" at Rosalie, while snickering at Jasper as he walked back on stage to pick up all his equipment.

After we finished packing up and loading everything into our van, we all went to a party that Emmett dragged me and Jasper to. He apparently wants to set us up with someone, and he feels a party is the best way.

We pulled up to a midsize, cream colored townhouse. Even when the doors were closed you could hear the music blaring Don't Trust Me, by 3OH!3. Jasper and I got out first, while Emmett and Rosalie went to park the car. Even though in Manhattan, not many people had cars, we had our band van to transport ourselves and our equipment from gig to gig. Parking was sometimes difficult to find, because not many streets had parking, and the ones that did were always super crowded.

Jasper and I went to walk inside the house. To the left there was a living room, which they cleared out for dancing, and then there was a staircase in front of me. Jasper yelled over the music, "What do we do now?". I simply shrugged my shoulders at him, and led him over to a row of chairs in the corner.

* * *

_Bella Swan _

Alice and I walked up to Jessica, Angela, Mike, and Ben, who where all waiting for us by the back door to the forum.

"Hey Ali. Bella." Angela greeted us with her usual friendly tone, as she came up to hug us each. "Hey guys," we greeted them back.

"Hey Bella, do you need help carrying your cello? I'm sure I could help you out." Mike winked at me while flexing his nonexistent biceps. I rolled my eyes at him. _When would this boy give it up?_ I noticed the glare that formed on Jessica's face when Mike flirted with me. Politely, I replied to him, "No thanks, Mike. I always arrange for Charlie's guys to take it, remember?"

I giggled internally while realization and rejection swept across Mike's face. Alice, on the other hand, always shamelessly honest, giggled out loud uncontrollably while Angela simply smirked. Jessica looked relieved. All three girls knew I would only go out when Mike Newton when hell froze over, and Angela and Alice had no question about my intentions, but Jessica was still uneasy, because even through her and Mike's on/off relationship, Mike always lusted after me. It only made sense for her to worry, right? Luckily, she'd never have to _really _worry, because I'd never like Mike Newton that way. He's a good friend, and nothing more.

"Ok, so we ready to go guys?" Angela asked us. "Yeah, let's go!" Alice and Jessica exclaimed, practically skipping out the door with Ang, while me, Ben, and mike simply trailed behind.

I just noticed what Jessica and Angela were wearing tonight. Angela looked gorgeous in her dress. It was strapless and was dark green on the top part, and then the bottom skirt part was light green with a matching dark green bow at her waist. The skirt flowed loosely to her mid-thigh. She wore black pumps and accessorized with it with a cream colored Stella McCartney trench coat and a gold and black clutch.

Jessica also looked beautiful in her spaghetti strap mint green dress. The top part was very tight fitting, like a corset. From the waist down, it flowed out to right above her knee. She wore a darker shade of mint green pumps, and a black coat. She also had a brownish-blackish clutch with cream and green flowers on it.

"Wow, guys, you look amazing," I gasped. Angela snorted and said, "Thanks, but we've got nothing on you tonight, Bells."

I scoffed as we hailed a cab and crawled in.

We pulled up to an off-white townhouse. You could definitely hear the music blaring, even from inside the cab. I stepped out the cab with Jess, Ang, and Alice while Ben and Mike argued over who would cover the taxi fare. In the end they split it. Once I walked in, Alice made a beeline for the dance floor, dragging the 3 of us with her, not even bothering to wait up for Mike or Ben. Not even 5 minutes later, a tall, blonde haired man came up to her and asked her to dance.

I danced with the whole group for about 15 minutes, but I got bored, and decided to go find a place where I could have peace. That way I could let each of the couples have their time with each other.

I climbed a staircase in the living room that led to a door. I opened it to find a hallway filled with people making out. Disgusted, I sped up my walking. The people in the hallway never even noticed me.

The hallway wrapped around to another staircase, which brought me to a thick, beaten iron door. I opened it and realized I was on the roof of the townhouse. There was absolutely no noise, surprisingly, except for a lone harmonica in the distance.

Wanting to take in my entire atmosphere, I walked forward to look over the fence-like wall, only to be stopped by a musical, velvet voice.

* * *

_Edward Cullen_

10 minutes later, a group of four girls walked into the house. There was a girl with long, bleach blonde hair, and girl with long, light brown hair. They were both fairly average. There was another girl with short, pixie-like black hair, who was significantly prettier than the other two. However, she was nothing like the last girl. She was so beautiful, with her breath-taking mahogany curls cascading down her back. Her face was perfectly formed, along with her chocolate brown doe eyes. She had the perfect figure with all her curves in the right places.

She and her friends went immediately to the dance floor. I was tempted to follow after her, but I was too afraid of her. Someone as beautiful and perfect as her would never go for someone like me.

Jasper, on the other hand, noticed the pixie girl, and nudged my shoulder. Of course, he's way more confident and charismatic than me, and he's probably going to approach her. "Hey Edward, I'm gonna go ask that girl to dance. You be ok here?"

"Sure man, I'm gonna go find somewhere peaceful and quiet to chill. See you when I see you." I muttered lifelessly. I was too occupied thinking of the brunette beauty.

Needing to clear my head, I decided to look for a quiet place in this chaotic house. _Yeah right._

I took a staircase and went through a door into a hallway crowded with couples practically doing it against the walls. I quickened my pace, wanting to get out of here, only to find a second set of stairs. They led to a heavy metal door that opened to the roof. It was quiet up here, and peaceful. _Perfect_. The music was very faint up here, and you could only hear a soulful harmonica playing down the street.

Tonight was a full moon, and it brought me back to memories of when I was little. I used to talk to the moon. I don't really know why I did, even now, I guess you could say it was like my private journal. I'd speak to it every time there was a full moon, telling it was happened in between each of our encounters. At the time, it was good for me. Unusual, yes, but it was the only thing I even opened up to, even if it wouldn't offer any feedback. I stopped talking when I was 15, and I outgrew it.

Tonight I just decided to lean back, listen to the music, and look at the moon. I found a couch on a raised platform, and just sat, drowned in my thoughts and memories.

For 20 minutes, I sat there in my trance, but was eventually interrupted by the loud, squeaky metal door being forced open.

* * *

**A/N: **

Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, I started writing it at the beginning of August but I went on vacation for a whole week, the Nickelodeon Cruise, to be more specific, so I haven't had a chance to write at all. I'll try to update more frequently in the future: D Especially because I still have a week until school starts, I can write a lot in that time.

Buy the way, special thanks to **El'EcAAF** and **lestat00** for favoriting my story and **xxilovejasperxx** for being my first review :) You guys rock!

Questions? Comments? Complaints? I don't have a 1-800 number but I do take reviews :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately, I don't own Twilight or any of the characters from Twilight. I also do not own August Rush.

**A/N:**Hey guys! So, this is that chapter I promised. I even have it done a week early. My present to you, since I've been such a jerk for the past year. If you missed my whole explanation for why I haven't updated, I moved it to my website so it's always available. This is the link, just remove the spaces.

http:/ deliablythe. webs. com/amessage. htm

Now, without further ado…

* * *

_Bella Swan_

"Great sound, isn't it?" the voice murmured.

I turned my head behind to look around for the source of the voice, only to be met with the most striking emerald green eyes. "Um, yeah," I stammered.

I looked more closely, and I saw a young man, maybe about 21, gleaming with an unforgettable crooked smile towards me. He was on a platform above the rooftop, relaxing on a couch. He had the most unusual hair color, a bronze with hints of red, styled in the most unruly way that just _screamed _sex hair. He was absolutely gorgeous.

Wanting to know more about the strange man who spoke to me, I smiled and asked him, "What are you doing?" The harmonica kept playing in the background.

He turned away and closed his eyes. "Listening," was all he said as he continued to smile, letting the music go through him. A few seconds passed and then he looked at me once more, asking, "What are you doing?"

"I just came up here to, um, to – " I was trying to formulate a reply, when he interrupted me. "Get away?" Instead of verbally replying, I just smiled.

"Well, come on. Have a seat," he said as he invited me with a nod to the couch he was on. "Be brave!" he smirked. "Front row center."

As I climbed up to the platform, the harmonica in the distance transitioned into a new song, this one slower, soulful and more intimate than the previous. I plopped down next to him and turned to face him. I don't really know why I was so comfortable with the stranger. If it had been any other person who was with me that night, I would have made an excuse to leave. But no, not with him. He was very inviting and I felt that he was a safe person; we connected from the very start.

The breeze came by and grew slightly stronger as we stared into each other's eyes. I laughed a little and turned to the direction of the harmonica, away from him. The wind had calmed back into its previous idle breeze.

"Can you hear that?" he asked.

"What is that?" I replied. He seemed to be in a deep state of thought, before he answered. "A wish." It was an unusual response, but a very interesting one.

We both sat a little longer before he looked up at the sky, still thinking to himself. I looked up too, and found myself taken with the moon that night. It was a full moon, very large and very bright. I thought about what he told me before, and asked, "And what does that sound like?"

He turned to face me again, took a deep breath, and began to sing softly with the melody of the harmonica.

_Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance,_

_With the stars up above in your eyes._

_A fantabulous night to make romance_

'_Neath the cover of October skies._

I was amazed and very taken with the man beside me at that point. He sang beautifully and I was impressed how he was able to make up such wonderful lyrics on the spot. Impulsively, I reached over and took his hand in mine, giving it a small squeeze. He moved closer to me and his eyes glazed a bit.

"You know, when I was a young kid, I used to talk to the moon…" he stated as his voice wandered off at the end. I giggled and teased him, asking, "Are you making that up?"

He scoffed and laughed softly, shook his head and started to fidget a little as he said, "God, I haven't done that in a long time."

"Does it ever talk back?"

"At first it used to, or it seemed. Now… I just find myself on a rooftop talking to myself like some crazy person. Out here on my own…" His smile slowly faded as he spoke. It was like he was slowly exposing his soul to me then. It wasn't really slow, considering we had been talking together for about ten minutes. _Ten minutes, _I thought to myself. _It's felt like hours._

I could only reply to him, "Well, I'm here." I squeezed his hand before letting go.

A thoughtful look flashed upon his face, before he reached back over and gently picked up my hand. He whispered, "Yes, you are."

I looked down to see our joined hands, and I felt unusually pleasant. I was becoming infatuated by this stranger. _Come on, Bella. You don't even know his name, _I thought to myself.

As if he were reading my mind, he faced me and said, "Hi, I'm Edward." His eyes bore into mine as I simply replied, "Bella."

"So, what's your story, Bella?" He pondered as we sat together. "I don't know, um…" I couldn't find the words to express my thoughts. "I'm just… me." Looking down at my lap, I thought about my life then. Even though I had a lot of success in my career at such a young age, I didn't really feel like it was special. I didn't feel proud of myself like I used to, and oftentimes I'd find myself crying in my bedroom. It was almost like my life flashed through my eyes then. And I didn't know what I could say for it then. "Just me." I whispered very quietly to myself.

I turned back to Edward. I was glad I finally had a name to put with the gorgeous face. He was staring in my direction, as if he were staring at a work of art in a museum. I felt very self-conscious then, and muttered, "What are you looking at?"

He whispered one word. "You." For what felt like hours, maybe even days, we stared into each other's eyes. He then leaned in and softly pressed his lips to mine. My heart exploded at the sudden close contact with him. I had never felt this way when being kissed before. It was the most amazing feeling I'd ever experienced. I surely couldn't have been falling in love; I just met the guy! But my heart was soaring and I suddenly craved everything about Edward.

We broke the kiss, finally, but didn't move away. He looked into my eyes, searching for some kind of expression, and with my silent approval, moved in once more to kiss me. I noted the harmonica playing in the background once more, and couldn't have realized a more perfect setting.

I deepened the kiss. Taking my hand, I began to run my hands up and down his chest as we kissed, exploring every inch of his torso. Simultaneously he was moving his hands about me, as if he were trying to memorize every curve of my body.

Edward and I made love that night. I don't know exactly what came over me, but I didn't regret it for one second. Never before had I had been with anyone like that before, and I never thought I would on the first night I met them. But, with Edward, it felt completely right.

The next morning, I woke up in Edward's arms. While that feeling was heaven, the rest of what I was feeling was less than desirable. First I heard a group of people laughing, and then the sound of an old camera snapping. Edward began to fidget and moan beside me as he woke up. I opened my eyes, but suddenly shut them again and screamed when I felt a cool liquid spraying all over my face. The laughter increased, and when the spray finally died down, I opened my eyes to see a big, burly man in front of me quickly moving at least 15 feet back from the couch. He smirked at the sight in front of us, and said, "'Mornin!"

Edward seemed to recognize who he was and was practically shaking his fist at him, muttering incomprehensible words. Suddenly, I took in the sight around me. It was bright daylight, and in the back I could heard the bustling city, completely awake and alive. I grabbed my cell phone and realized it was almost 8:00. _Shoot!_

"I have to go!" I nearly yelled. I shot up and started to find my shoes, rushing to hurry. I couldn't be late this morning.

Edward looked at me with a sad expression on his face before quickly offering, "Let me walk you home!"

God, if Charlie knew about this… "No, I can't. My dad's waiting at the Sherry," I explained, before muttering more to myself, "I've never done this before."

I rushed to the door, ignoring the group of hooting boys next to me. _Who were they, anyways?_ "I'm in so much trouble!" I yelled in frustration, as I looked at the time.

Edward ran over and grabbed my hand. "Wait! Meet me at 10:00. By the arch." He begged as he pointed at Washington Square Arch. _Funny, I never even realized where the party last night was…_

My mind was running a million miles a minute this morning, full of thousands of crazy running thoughts. I looked around anxiously as the boys behind me were screaming, "Say it! Say it! Come on, say it!"

I looked down at Edward, who just said, "Say it," with the same crooked smile he had last night.

I relented and just nodded at him, my lips lightly turning up at the corners. He let go of me, with a big sigh of relief, and smiled as I ran to the door leading to the staircase.

The group of boys who I figured to be his friends, snapped another picture of me as they hooted and they howled, while Edward yelled, "I'll take that as a yes!"

I turned back to look at him once more, and smiled hugely at him, before running for the stairs.

_That was hands down, the _greatest_ night of my life._

_

* * *

_

Again_, _I'm **really **sorry about not updating. Life just sucks for us teenagers, doesn't it?

Here's what's up. I'm halfway done with the next chapter. Then, once that's completed, I'll be publishing my new one-shot. It's completely unrelated to this story. I don't have a title yet, but it's going to be about the Cullens and Bella winding up on _Cash Cab_. It's solely light-hearted and humorous. I think you guys will like it. Look out for it within the next week or two, or you guys can subscribe to author alerts, so you'll know whenever I do anything.

I'm excited to hear your feedback from this chapter!

Musically yours,  
Delia Blythe


	5. Announcement

Hi guys. I thought you'd be glad to know I'm almost done with the next chapter.

I wanted to bring something to everyone's attention here. If you don't already pay attention to the news, I suggest you go look up some articles about a 16 year-old girl named Calyx Schenecker. Calyx was a girl who went to my school and I even had some classes with her.

On January 27, 2011, Calyx and her brother Beau were murdered by their mother. She shot her 13 year-old son Beau in the car on the way back from soccer practice and then went home to shoot Calyx, who was simply doing homework at the time. Her justification she provided to the police is that the kids were "mouthy."

I was never really that close to Calyx, but I knew her enough to know she was an amazing person who anybody would be lucky to know. She was so smart, dedicated, nice, and talented. She had so many passions in life that she not only worked toward in her life but tried to promote others her passions as well. For example, she and her 3 best friends at our school started a Harry Potter club named Dumbledore's Army, and she was the head of the Slytherin house. And she was SUCH a talented artist. If she didn't become a model because of her beauty, or an Olympic runner because of her natural gift of speed in cross-country, she would have become an artist. Actually, Calyx could've even done all three. It's not fair her life, dreams, and aspirations were taken away so quickly and instantly, but especially it's a shame that they were taken away before her life had even began.

I feel almost like she was an angel. She had such a short life, but she has already made such a huge difference to those who knew her, and even to those who didn't know her. She truly lived everyday to the fullest and everything she did always had a purpose. She loved everyone around her and never, ever, ever said anything negative about anyone. She was so nice and humble and couldn't even take a compliment because she was so modest. If you told her, "Wow, Calyx, you look so pretty today!" she would just blush and be like, "Oh, oh, me? Oh, well, oh, thank you," and practically run away. She was the type of person who truly didn't care what people thought of her and did what her heart desired. She's an inspiration to all of us. Like I said, I think she was an angel.

It's truly said that humans need to learn from tragedies like this. Their mother was clearly not mentally well and she wrongfully took away the lives of the two greatest things in her life. The only victim left now is their father, who was overseas in Qatar at the time of the killing. He's returning home this week, which is really tragic now that he has nothing to come home to. It's especially gut-wrenching because he was supposed to come home whether or not anything happened; it was just his time to come home. And now his life is devoid of meaning, pretty much.

I ask you readers to please honor them in some way. If you're religious, say a prayer for them. If you're not religious, you can find the memorial groups on Facebook and support them, or you can make it your status. Everyone can do something. I just can't sit here and do nothing though.

With this great tragedy a lot of things in my life and the lives of our classmates have been put on hold. I am not emotionally capable of completing the next chapter this week. I'll try my hardest. Just for now, we're all hurting too much because of this great loss.

Thank you for understanding. I hope to hear for you all. And in return, I'll post a chapter whenever I can. For now I ask that you give me just a little time to recover from the shock. I honestly still can't even grasp what has happened. Has it ever happened to you where someone died, but you still think they're coming back? I just can't make myself accept that her desk in English class or trigonometry class will never be filled again. I feel like she just went on vacation and she'll be back next week or something. We're all trying really hard… But it is extremely difficult coping with this. None of us knew anything about what was going on in her life because she was so private. Only now that we know is it too late to help her or her brother.

I ask you all to take the lesson provided with this misfortune. Calyx taught us that we should live every day the best way we can. Care for others in the world. Never leave on a negative note with anyone because you never know when your time or their time could be up. None of us are guaranteed even the next seconds of our lives. Calyx didn't know 30 seconds before what was going to happen to her. It's that scary. Don't leave anything unsaid. If you have something you need someone to know, _tell them. _It may be your last chance. Love with all your heart and love everyone. Toleration and love really are the one of the best paths to happiness. Don't let negativity get to you in life. Instead of obsessing over the bad in your life, note the good in life. There might be a storm right now, but don't ignore the gift of the rain. And, after the storm passes, there's a rainbow.

Take care, all of you. Try to live long, prosperous lives. It's what Calyx wanted for us, and what the world wants for you. The world is a cruel place, but we can change that slowly together, one act of goodness at a time.

Rest In Peace, Calyx and Beau Schenecker.


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